EPA Orders Norfolk Southern to Conduct All Necessary Cleanup Work for East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment

On February 21, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a unilateral administrative order (CERCLA UAO) to Norfolk Southern Railway Company to conduct all necessary response actions associated with the February 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. After extensive response work under the CERCLA UAO in the spring and summer of 2023, EPA issued a Clean Water Act unilateral administrative order (CWA UAO), on October 18, 2023, to the company to remove remaining contaminated sediments in certain areas. UAOs are used to order parties to perform cleanup work for various reasons, including when there is a need to quickly get action started at a site or accident.

EPA issued the CERCLA UAO to the railroad for removal cleanup work under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund). EPA’s CERCLA order marked the transition of the multi-agency response from its emergency phase to a longer-term cleanup response phase with EPA in the lead of a unified command. Norfolk Southern Railway Company performs the ongoing response work required under the oversite of EPA.

On this page:

• Information about Norfolk Southern Railway Company
• Information about East Palestine Ohio Train Derailment Site
• Overview of the Unilateral Administrative Orders
• Contact Information

Information about Norfolk Southern Railway Company

Norfolk Southern Railway Company (Norfolk Southern) is a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Corporation. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, it was formed in 1982 from a merger between Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. Its parent company, Norfolk Southern Corporation, is a major transporter of industrial products, including agriculture, forest and consumer products, chemicals, and metals and construction materials. Norfolk Southern serves major ports on the East Coast, the Gulf, and numerous river ports.

Information about East Palestine Ohio Train Derailment Site

On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, about a quarter-mile west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line. East Palestine, Ohio is located on the state's border with Pennsylvania, approximately 20 miles south of Youngstown, Ohio and 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has a population of approximately 5,000 people.

Of the 150 train cars, about 50 cars were affected by the derailment. The rest were uncoupled and removed from the scene. About twenty of the affected cars contained hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol, ethylhexyl acrylate, butyl acrylate and isobutylene, and several cars contained oil. Some cars caught fire, and several cars were vented and their contents burned to avoid a possible explosion. Some cars spilled their loads into an adjacent ditch that feeds Sulphur Run, a stream that joins Leslie Run, which eventually empties into the Ohio River. More information can be found at EPA’s East Palestine Emergency Response website.

Overview of the Unilateral Administrative Orders

The CERCLA UAO for removal action required Norfolk Southern to:

• Participate in all required elements of the site’s response organization structure established and coordinated by the on-site coordinators (OSCs);

• Develop a security plan;
• Develop and implement plans for:
  • Air monitoring,
  • Soil, sediment, and water sampling, and
  • Containing and remediating contaminated soil, sediment, and water;
• Remove and dispose of hazardous substances at EPA-approved disposal facilities in accordance with the National Contingency Plan (NCP) regulatory requirements for off-site disposal;
• Establish financial assurance within 30 days of receiving an initial cost estimate from EPA;
• Share with EPA and the states all information about the cleanup activities;
• Provide, upon EPA’s request, whatever support EPA requires for community involvement; and
• Take any additional action to address releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances which EPA determines may pose an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or the environment.

Norfolk Southern has been conducting the required clean up work under the CERCLA UAO under EPA oversite. Contaminated soil excavation at the derailment site was completed on October 29, 2023, and the last truck of hazardous soil was shipped on October 30, 2023. In total, 175,224 tons of contaminated soil – more than 350 million pounds – have been excavated and shipped out of East Palestine for disposal.

Additionally, to address the concerns of residents regarding potential indoor contamination, Norfolk Southern has provided cleaning services to area businesses and families. EPA has extensive experience with coordinating similar cleaning programs in other Midwestern communities.

The CWA UAO required Norfolk Southern to:

• Remove contaminated sediments in culverted areas of Sulphur Run; and
• Further delineate, characterize, and, as necessary, remove oil and hazardous substances from the sediments in Leslie and Sulphur Runs.

Sediment and sheen sampling efforts required by the CWA UAO are complete, and cleanup is complete in four of five culverts.

Contact Information

For inquiries regarding the site, contact R5_PIO@epa.gov.